


What Did You Do, Padfoot?

by RizaHawkeyePierce



Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Sirius Black's Prank on Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26383264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RizaHawkeyePierce/pseuds/RizaHawkeyePierce
Summary: Back at school for their sixth year, the Marauders (especially James and Sirius) have some trouble with Snape, and Sirius concocts a solution.
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916311
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

A new school year had always been a good time for Sirius. Usually it meant he’d be leaving his parents’ house and their stiff rules behind to be somewhere he could be comfortable. This time, he wasn’t sure how he felt about going back. He was looking forward to seeing Remus and Peter, but he hadn’t told them what had happened with his parents, despite James constantly telling him to.

“Look, we could all tell something was going on with your parents,” James said as they packed all their luggage into the car James’ parents had rented to take them to King’s Cross. “You started acting weird a few days before you went back there, every time. And it’s not like they’re going to spread it around to everyone at school.”

“Just drop it, all right?” Sirius said, shoving his trunk into the boot with more force than was strictly necessary.

James shrugged. “All right. You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to.”

The drive to the train station would have been mildly interesting to Sirius, who had never been in a car before, if his stomach wasn’t churning the entire time. Regulus was starting his third year, which meant his parents would be at the station. James was chatting animatedly with his own parents, so Sirius was free to dwell on his own thoughts. As they parked the car, Sirius felt his heart beating furiously in his chest. He opened the car door and wiped the sweat from his palms before pulling his trunk from the boot.

All of them walked together into the station, Sirius doing his best to act normally. They passed through the barrier to the platform without incident, and the four of them walked down the length of the train, looking for Remus and Peter and a likely compartment to sit in.

James spotted Remus first and waved him over, grinning.

“How was your summer?” he yelled over the noise of the train and the crowd.

“Not bad,” said Remus. “Yours?”

“Pretty good,” said James. “This guy came to stay for the last few weeks.” He clapped Sirius on the shoulder. Sirius did his best imitation of a grin.

Peter found them shortly afterward, shoving his way through the crowd. “Good thing you lot are all tall,” he said. “I’d never find you in this otherwise. You still growing out your hair, Sirius?” he asked.

“What?” said Sirius, distracted. “Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

“You all right, Sirius?” Remus said, a crease appearing between his eyebrows.

“Absolutely,” said Sirius, trying to grin again. He started to pull his trolley toward the train when someone collided with him, knocking him to the ground.

“Watch it!” Sirius snapped, before looking up and recognizing his father.

Sirius felt the air vanish from his lungs. He scrambled to his feet, his head spinning. He saw rage flash in his father’s eyes and he tensed as his father seized his arm just above the elbow. His father pulled him in close.

“Did you come here to apologize?” his father whispered harshly, giving him a little shake.

Sirius felt whatever fight was left in him drain away. “Yes, sir,” he said dully, looking in the opposite direction. He was dimly aware that James, Remus, and Peter were watching.

“Do it, then,” his father hissed in his ear.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Sirius said obediently. People were whispering around them and the sound seemed loud, like a rushing wind. Sirius felt as though he was falling away from himself, watching the scene from over his own shoulder.

“HEY,” Remus yelled, stepping forward from the growing circle of onlookers. “Let him go,” he said, staring down Sirius’ father.

“I don’t recall taking orders from you, boy,” said Sirius’ father, glaring at Remus, his hand still firmly gripping Sirius’ arm.

“First time for everything,” said James, also stepping forward.

Sirius’ father whipped out his wand, and James and Remus followed suit.

“Should we really be fighting here?” Lily said, pushing her way into the circle. “How about we all just--” She stopped abruptly as Sirius’ father turned his wand on her. She pulled out her own wand as James snarled and stepped forward again

Sirius’ mother appeared at his father’s side and laid a hand on his arm. “Dear,” she said softly, “leave them be. No need to pick fights with children. Especially when we know...none of them.” She glanced around the circle at James, at Remus, at Lily, and finally settled on Sirius, staring right through him, as though he were nothing. Somehow, this was worse than his father’s threats.

Sirius’ father smiled at his wife. “Right you are, of course, dear,” he said, releasing Sirius, who staggered and half-fell back against his trolley. Both his parents strolled away without looking at Sirius.

Sirius clung to the trolley, shaking. The crowd was still gathered, their eyes boring into him as he tried to breathe and continue standing upright.

“Hey, piss off!” James yelled, waving the crowd off. “Show’s over!”

Remus, Peter, and Lily had come over to check on Sirius.

“It’s okay, Sirius,” said Remus, putting a hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “They’re gone.”

Sirius nodded, staring at the ground.

“Peter, can you go find us a compartment?” Remus said. Peter nodded and scampered off.

“Sirius, can you try taking a deep breath?” Lily said gently. Remus glanced over at her, surprised at her concern. Sirius took a breath that was slightly slower than his rapid panting. “Okay, now one a little slower than that. Try counting to five when you breathe in, then do it again when you breathe out.”

By this time James had finished clearing the crowd, and he edged toward them, trying not to disturb the effect Lily’s efforts were having. Though still looking drained and pale, Sirius’ breathing had slowed, and he seemed to be calming down. He glanced at all of them, then groaned and put his face in his hands.

The train’s whistle blew, and Remus noticed that the crowd of students on the platform was rapidly thinning. He looked up to see Peter waving from the direction of a door a couple cars down.

“We’d better get on,” James said. He took the handles of Sirius’ trolley and his own and, pushing one in front and pulling one behind, headed over to the train, leaving Remus and Lily to help Sirius and pull their own luggage.

They managed to pile everything into the compartment before the train started to move, Lily stowing her trunk a couple compartments down where some of her friends were sitting. After helping to lift two trunks into the overhead compartment, Sirius flopped down heavily onto the seat and draped his arm over his eyes.

“Should we get going?” Lily asked, appearing again in the door to the compartment. Remus looked over and saw she was talking to him.

“Oh, right,” he said. “Prefect meeting.” He looked over at Sirius, frowning, not wanting to leave him.

“I can tell them you’re sick or something,” Lily offered.

“You can’t do anything for me, Remus,” Sirius said, sounding tired, his arm still covering his eyes.

Remus still hesitated.

“We’ll be here,” said Peter. James nodded.

“Okay,” Remus said, and he left with Lily.

  
  


They walked in silence for a moment, but eventually curiosity overcame Remus. The only emotions Lily had shown toward Sirius before were annoyance and contempt. Why had she been so concerned about him?

“Are you...friends with Sirius?” he asked her.

“Not really… I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “I just helped James out when Sirius showed up at James’ house with half his fingers missing.”

Remus stopped walking. “What?”

Lily stopped too. “They didn’t tell you?”

“No, they just said Sirius was staying with...half his _fingers_ missing?” Remus leaned against the wall in shock.

Lily hesitated. “I don’t know all the details, but it sounded like he ran away from home. He Apparated, I guess, but he Splinched himself, so James had to re-grow his fingers. And--” Lily swallowed. “he had bruises all along his side, and maybe some broken ribs. It wasn’t pretty.”

Remus felt his chest tighten. “I-- I knew he and his parents didn’t… But I didn’t know…”

“I don’t think anyone did,” Lily said gently. “James didn’t. You couldn’t have known.”

“I feel like I should have done something,” Remus said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

“You did,” said Lily. “You’ve been his friend this whole time, haven’t you?”

Remus nodded.

“That’s probably what he needed.”

Remus sighed. “I suppose.”

They started walking toward the prefects’ carriage again. Remus looked over at Lily.

“James convinced you to come to his house and help him take care of Sirius?” Remus said, raising his eyebrows. “How did he convince you to help him?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “He promised to leave me alone and never ask me out again. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

“You might be surprised,” Remus said. “He takes that kind of thing seriously.”

“We can only hope,” Lily said.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Lily was standing with her friend Anna in the courtyard during break when Sirius came bounding up to them. _Exactly like a dog_ , she thought, trying to keep herself from laughing. Potter followed behind Sirius reluctantly, looking embarrassed, and Remus and Peter followed them, Remus looking amused and Peter bemused.

“Hey Sirius,” she said, nodding at him.

“Hey Lily,” he said, grinning at her. “How are your classes?”

“The one this morning, you mean? You were there,” she pointed out.

“It must have gone fabulously, then, if I was there,” he said, winking at her.

Lily chuckled at that, and she got a glimpse of James staring between her and Sirius in consternation, but he still didn’t step forward to say anything. Better and better.

“But you haven’t introduced me to your gorgeous friend,” Sirius said, winking at Anna as well.

Anna laughed, too. “We’ve been in the same year since we were eleven, Sirius. If you don’t know my name by now…”

Sirius clapped a hand to his head theatrically. “Anna, is that you? You look amazing.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Anna, what would you say to...taking a walk around the grounds with me this evening after supper?” he said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

James shook his head and Remus rolled his eyes.

“I would say, ‘thank you, but I respectfully decline’”, said Anna, still smiling.

“Come on, Anna,” Sirius persisted, “I’ll be sure to show you a good time.”

“I’m aware of the ‘time’ you’ll show me, but I also know it tends to be short-lived and end abruptly, so I’m not interested,” said Anna, no longer smiling.

Remus shifted, looking uncomfortable.

“How about a morning walk then?” Sirius asked.

“Sirius,” snapped Lily, “she said no. Don’t keep asking.”

Sirius opened his mouth, confused. Behind him, Lily could see that James had turned bright red - no doubt remembering the number of times he’d asked her out.

“Weren’t you just...playing hard to get?” Sirius said.

Anna shook her head. “Most of the time, that’s not what girls are doing. If they say yes when you ask them repeatedly, they’re probably just uncomfortable with the situation.”

It was Sirius’ turn to go red. Looking both embarrassed and annoyed, he stalked away across the courtyard. Remus and Peter followed. Remus nodded at Lily, a small grin on his face and Peter was looking from Anna to Sirius in shock. James stayed behind for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so he swallowed, jerked his head in an odd sort of bow, and hurried after the others.

Anna turned to Lily in amazement. “Did we _break_ James Potter and Sirius Black?”

“I have no idea what we did,” said Lily.

“Sirius is kind of cute when he’s embarrassed,” said Anna. “Maybe I will _take a walk_ with him.”

Lily shot her a look.

“I know, I know,” said Anna. “But still…”

Lily pushed her and she staggered, laughing.

“Oh, you want to fight?” she said, turning back to Lily with her fists raised in an exaggerated boxing stance. Lily laughed and raised her own fists, and they made a few pretend jabs at each other before falling together in a hug, laughing.

“I’m glad to be back,” said Anna as they broke apart.

Over Anna’s shoulder, Lily saw Severus lurking in a corner, watching them. “Me too,” she said, hitching a smile onto her face as she looked away from Severus.


	3. Chapter 3

None of them discussed what had happened with Lily in the courtyard that morning, but Sirius’ good mood had returned by the time they were heading back to Gryffindor tower for their free period after lunch. Sirius, Remus, and James had kept all the same N.E.W.T. level classes, but Peter was only in Transfiguration and Herbology, with a makeup O.W.L. in Potions, so he had the most free time. Sirius had decided to get some snacks for the afternoon from the kitchen and meet the others back in the common room, so he was heading in that direction when Snape called out to him from around a corner.

“Just the blood traitor I was looking for,” he said casually, leaning against the wall and examining his fingernails.

Sirius whipped around, pulling out his wand.

“Now, now, I’m unarmed,” said Snape, smirking and holding up his hands. “Not that it’s stopped you before…”

“What do you want, Snivellus?” Sirius snapped.

“Heard your parents threw you out, Black,” he said, his black eyes glittering with malice. 

“Oh, that,” said Sirius, feigning indifference, tucking his wand back inside his robes. “They didn’t throw me out. I left. I’d been meaning to for a while, actually, but it just seemed like a good time.”

“That’s not what Regulus says,” said Snape, watching Sirius closely for a reaction. “He says you barely escaped.”

“He says that?” said Sirius, hoping the dim lighting in the basement corridor would not reveal the flush he felt spreading over his face. Why would Reg tell Snape about what had happened? Their relationship was complicated, but the idea of Reg telling Snape stories about their father’s attacking Sirius made Sirius feel sick. Unless Snape was lying...but how would he know, uness Reg told him? “You might not want to believe everything he says,” Sirius continued, still trying to sound casual. “He’s been known to exaggerate.”

“That’s also not what it looked like on the train platform,” said Snape, eyes boring into Sirius. “ _Yes sir...I’m sorry, sir…”_

Sirius roared and lunged at Snape, who flicked his wand out of his pocket and hissed, “ _Petrificus Totalus”._

Sirius’s body froze mid-lunge as Snape stepped out of the way, and he crashed first into the wall, then to the hard stone floor, curled up on his side in a strange position. Snape stood over him, staring down with now-undisguised fury, and kicked Sirius one, hard, in the ribs. Sirius couldn’t move to wince or grimace, but his breath hissed between his teeth. Snape leaned down to put his mouth near Sirius’ ear.

“That’s for hanging me upside down in front of half the school,” he whispered. “Don’t worry, I’ll see to Potter next.”

He patted Sirius on the cheek and swept down the hallway, his echoing footsteps fading away to leave a thick silence.

Sirius lay uncomfortably, the stones of the floor pressing into his outstretched arm and side. He wondered how long it would take for James, Remus, and Peter to notice he was gone longer than he should have been. He tried to think of ways to communicate with them, but his wand was in his pocket and the two-way-mirror was in his bag. He tried to use nonverbal spells for a while, but without his wand in his hand, he didn’t expect anything to happen.

Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, he heard footsteps and voices calling his name. He tried responding out of reflex, but of course he was still unable to make a sound. He saw Remus walking past the end of the corridor and internally screamed as he passed by seemingly without noticing. However, It only took another moment for Peter to look his way and rush over to him.

“He’s here!” Peter said, kneeling next to him. James and Remus hurried over as well.

“ _Finite!”_ said James, tapping Sirius with his wand. Sirius gasped and rolled onto his back, clutching the place Snape had kicked and the place where a flagstone had been pressing into his side.

“So…” said James, “I take it you didn’t get me any snacks.”

Sirius directed a rude hand gesture his way, and he laughed.

“Who was it?” Remus asked.

“Snivellus, of course,” said Sirius bitterly, “Who else?” He sat up gingerly, grimacing. “Apparently he’s...not pleased with the whole...dangling upside down incident, so he’s sworn revenge.”

Remus frowned and looked away.

“Well, he can’t take all of us at once, “ said James. “I’m not worried about his revenge plot.”

“Be careful, Prongs,” said Sirius, “He’s after you next. He said so.”

James waved a hand airily. “What’s the worst he can do?”


	4. Chapter 4

The worst Snape could do, it transpired, was worse than James could have imagined. It started small - Trip Jinxes in the corridors and Itching Powder tipped into bags when they weren’t looking, but soon James noticed some of his and Sirius’ homework would go mysteriously blank just before they handed it in, and random things would go missing from their bags, never to be seen again.

“I don’t know how he’s doing it,” said James, rubbing his eyes as he put down his quill. He and Sirius were the last in the common room at one in the morning, having re-done a Transfiguration essay and a Herbology assignment. “He’s not even in all the classes we’re taking.”

Sirius yawned. “I wonder if it’s a jinx on our bags, or our parchment, or our quills.”

“Or all of them. Or none of them.” James laid his head on the table. Sleeping here seemed more manageable than dragging himself up to bed…

  
  


James snapped awake to muffled laughter in the middle of Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was staring at him with a severe look, and he looked down to see he’d been drooling on his textbook. He was so tired, it seemed to take an enormous amount of energy to lift his arm and wipe the page with his sleeve. Professor McGonagall continued with the lesson, but it was taking all his concentration to keep his eyes open…

  
  


“Potter, look out!”

The Quaffle hit him solidly in the face, knocking him sideways, and it was only by reflex that he clung to his broom as he flipped over to hang underneath it.

“Sorry!” called Fletchley, holding a hand to her face in embarrassment. “You all right?”

James righted himself and waved a hand as he dived to retrieve the Quaffle. The side of his face stung, but the blow had woken him more effectively than anything else had. He shook his head, got back in formation, and tried to recall the diagrams Dar had drawn when describing the new plan of attack.

  
  


James returned to the castle hours later, exhausted, windswept, and frustrated. He hadn’t been able to keep track of the new plays and had flown the wrong way half the time. Practice had been called early because everyone was frustrated and it had started to rain. He was turning his mistakes over in his mind and trying to remember the difference between Phoenix Tail and Serpent’s Demise when something invisible snagged his ankle and he went sprawling.

He rolled on his back to see Snape advancing on him and he groaned.

“Snape, enough, all right? I’m sorry about the ‘hanging you upside-down’ thing--is that what you want to hear?”

Snape continued to advance, saying nothing, an intense, burning look on his face. He whipped his wand at James, and James felt an invisible force yank one of his ankles upward, pulling him into the air upside down. Furious, he thought, _Fine, if that’s how he wants to play it..._

James fumbled in the robes hanging around his head until he found his wand, which he aimed roughly in Snape’s direction and shot a few spells, which missed as Snape dived out of the way. James then pointed his wand at the ceiling and shouted, “ _Inverticus!”_

The gravity in the corridor flipped. James, now right-side-up, though still immobilized by his ankle suspended in the air, tracked Snape with his wand as Snape fell toward the ceiling. Mid fall, Snape tapped himself with his wand and said, “ _Wingardium Leviosa!”_ His fall slowed to a halt, though he was still inverted and struggled to right himself as he floated. James flicked his wand once more and yelled, “ _Ventus!”_

A strong wind whipped through the corridor, whipping through James’ robes and hair. Snape, still floating, was blown backward into a wall. Though dazed, he shot a couple more spells at James. One missed, but the other connected, and James felt as though he’d been hit in the stomach with a heavy weight, knocking the wind out of him. He threw a Leg-Locker jinx at Snape, which missed again, then wheezed, “ _Inverticus_ ,” once more.

The gravity reversed once more, and as Snape was falling, James Conjured a large cushion on the floor beneath him and tapped himself with his wand, releasing the jinx holding him in place. He crashed to the floor, glad he’d conjured the cushion, but as he was struggling to stand, he caught sight of Snape, who hadn’t bothered to get up, pointing his wand at James from the floor with an expression of the most intense hatred James had ever seen.

“ _Crucio!_ ” Snape screamed.

At once, James felt as though his entire body was in the midst of a white-hot furnace, while acid melted his insides. He screamed and screamed as the pain went on and on and on…

And stopped. He came back to himself lying curled up on the floor of the corridor, gasping and shivering. He heard footsteps running over to him, felt a hand on his shoulder, and heard Remus’ voice, sounding scared, “James. James! Are you all right?”

James opened his eyes. Remus was kneeling next to him, his face white with terror. “‘m all right,” said James, struggling to sit up. Remus helped him into a sitting position by the wall so he could lean against it. He leaned his head back against the wall and took a deep breath, trying to slow his fast-beating heart. “Where’s Snape?” he asked.

“Stunned,” said Remus, pointing.

James peered around the suit of armor he was sitting next to and saw Snape lying unmoving on the floor of the corridor. He sat back against the wall, relieved.

“How’d you find me?” he asked.

“We thought it’d be a good idea to meet you after practice, given…” Remus waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the unconscious Snape. “But we went out to the pitch and no one was there, and we missed you on the way down, of course, so we split up to try to find you. I was a floor down when I heard…” Remus looked away and swallowed. Seeing James’ wand still lying in the corridor, he fetched it and handed it to James.

“Thanks,” said James, taking it.

“No problem.”

“No, really--thanks.”

Remus smiled a little and nodded.

“I guess it’s good Sirius didn’t find you first,” said Remus, sitting down next to James. “He probably would have killed Snape.”

James let out a soft breath of laughter. “Yeah, I’d rather not have him in Azkaban for murder. We’d have to break him out. It’d be a whole thing.” He looked down at his hands, which were still shaking.

“You’re sure you’re all right?” said Remus, looking at him with concern.

“Yeah, I...I dunno,” said James. He looked around the armor again, to reassure himself Snape hadn’t moved. “It’s just--he _really_ hates me.”

Remus frowned. “You’ve always hated each other.”

James sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know, but…” He didn’t know how to say that, while he’d never liked Snape, the idea that Snape wanted to cause him so much pain was unnerving. He didn’t feel angry, just shocked that anyone would want to inflict what he’d just experienced on anyone else. And the fact that Snape held so much hatred toward him because of something he, James, had done made him feel ill.

He hadn’t, before, thought of his behavior toward Snape as cruelty. He’d always felt it was what Snape deserved, tit-for-tat, because Snape had never held back in retaliation. But, looking back, most of the run-ins with Snape had been at his, James’, or Sirius’ instigation. And it was because Snape was in Slytherin, because he was too interested in the Dark Arts, because he spent most of his time alone, because he had greasy hair and skinny legs...in short, because he was weird.

Was that who he was? The one who picked on the weird kid for being weird?

He took a deep breath.

“We should probably go find the others,” he said, trying not to let the burning shame occupying his chest show on his face. Remus got to his feet and helped James up, which James was grateful for. The residual aches and shakiness from the Cruciatus curse were receding, but James still felt...off-center.

“What should we do with him?” Remus asked, looking at Snape.

James sighed. “I guess...wake him up from around the corner?”

“I meant, should we tell Slughorn? Or Dumbledore?”

“No,” said James, quickly, “No. Let’s just go.”

When they reached the end of the corridor, Remus aimed his wand back at Snape.

“ _Renervate,”_ he muttered, then ducked around the corner. James followed. They waited until they heard him stirring, then slipped away.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, a Saturday, was the first full moon of the school year. Remus ate breakfast listlessly with the others, squinting against the bright sunlight streaming in from the Great Hall windows, then declared he was going back to bed. James left shortly afterward for all-day Quidditch practice, leaving Sirius and Peter to spend the morning lounging outdoors. The sun was bright, but there was a cool breeze that announced the beginning of autumn.

As he and Peter lay in the grass under a beech tree near the lake, Sirius wondered idly if he could spend the day as a dog without anyone noticing. He enjoyed being a dog - running faster than he ever could as a human, and smelling the intense odors only available to him in that form. Other things were easier as a dog - his dog’s mind was more present, focused, and it was harder to dwell on the past or worry about the future.

As he thought nothing in particular, he noticed Snape heading in his direction. He thought about James a few nights ago, coming back to the Common Room pale and distracted, but refusing to say what had happened, and he called out, “Hey, Snivellus, I notice you haven’t discovered shampoo yet.”

Peter laughed loudly.

“Black,” Snape said, drawing closer, “How are things at home?”

“Hey,” said Sirius, tamping down a flare of anger and propping himself up on his elbows as Snape passed, “you want to know where Remus goes every month, right?”

Snape froze. He said, without turning around to face Sirius, “As though you would tell me.”

“All I’m saying,” said Sirius, lying back with feigned unconcern as vindictive satisfaction coursed through his veins like ice, “is that if you take a long stick and poke the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow, you might find out something to interest you.” He watched under mostly-closed eyelids. Snape stayed still for a moment, apparently thinking. After a moment he went on his way without turning back to look at Sirius.

Sirius opened his eyes fully and saw Wormtail looking at him with a worried expression.

“Are--are you sure that was a good idea?” he said hesitantly.

“It’ll be fine,” said Sirius, closing his eyes once more. “I doubt he’ll even try it. And if he does, well...he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

  
  


Several hours later, James came in from Quidditch practice muddy, hungry, and excited for the night ahead. The normal plan was for them to have dinner as normal before sneaking into a broom closet off the Entrance Hall, where James would pull out his Invisibility Cloak to cover him and Sirius, and Peter would transform to perch on one of their shoulders. Then they’d make their way outside to the Whomping Willow, head down the tunnel, and join Remus in the Shrieking Shack.

James passed Snape in the Entrance Hall, apparently heading out to the grounds. Neither of them looked at the other--they seemed to have mutually decided to pretend the incident with the Cruciatus Curse had not happened. He decided to run up to his room to change into dry underwear before heading into dinner, so he ran up the staircase.

A few minutes later, a little drier, he reached the place where Sirius and Peter were sitting in the Great Hall, and, with barely a nod at them, dropped into place and started to wolf down some food. It was a couple minutes before he picked up the thread of their conversation.

“--if he’ll try it,” Sirius was saying. “I haven’t seen him at dinner yet.”

“He won’t, right?” said Peter, sounding worried for some reason. “I mean, why would he believe you?”

James swallowed a huge mouthful of food. “Who are you talking about?”

“Snape,” said Peter.

“Oh, I passed him on the way in here,” said James, taking another drumstick from the tray in front of him. “Looked like he was heading out into the grounds.” He started to tear into the chicken, but noticed a meaningful glance between Sirius and Peter.

“What?” he said, looking from one to the other.

“Sirius told Snape he’d find something interesting if he prodded the knot on the Whomping Willow,” said Peter.

James dropped his drumstick. “You _what_?”

Sirius’ face turned hard. “He wanted to know so badly, so I told him, and serve him right.”

“You want him to _die_?” hissed James, standing up. “Remus might _kill_ him, and it’ll be your fault.”

Sirius looked a little confused, but still defiant. James said nothing more, just gave him a disgusted look as he extricated himself from the bench and sprinted down the hall.

Heads turned as he passed, but he gave them no heed. Dimly, he heard one or two of the teachers stand and tell him to stop, but he pressed on, hitting the double doors at speed. Without slowing he turned toward the front doors and shouldered them open, then leapt at the top of the front steps, transforming into the stag on the way down.

The grounds glowed orange in the last rays of the sun. The moon was already well above the horizon -James could see it reflected in the lake as he ran. Head down, legs pumping, he charged toward the Whomping Willow, hoping to see Snape outside it, but no one was there. He skidded to a halt as the branches came to life and started waving threateningly in his direction.

Panting, he transformed back into a human and looked around feverishly for something to use to prod the knot. There! The stick Snape had used! He whipped out his wand and pointed it at the stick with a shaking hand.

It took three attempts to levitate the stick properly into the knot, but as soon as the branches froze he raced to the hole at the base of the trunk and slid into the passage underneath.

Gasping, he scrambled, moving as fast as he could crouched or on all fours, wishing he could transform again, but his antlers would get caught in the tunnel ceiling.

There was no sign of Snape, there was no sound except for his own heavy breathing and scuffling, and he couldn’t stop his mind presenting him with horrible images of Snape lying bleeding and torn apart. Imagining Snape’s parents sobbing over his body, Sirius put in prison, Remus kicked out of school--

 _Remus,_ thought James, _he’d never forgive himself._

Every muscle in his legs and arms burning, a stitch in his side, James pushed himself onward until, at last, he saw Snape, outlined in the light from his wand.

He tried to shout, but he was breathing too hard for it to come out as more than a whisper, and as James grew closer, he heard Remus’ snarls and growls above him -- Snape probably couldn’t hear him anyway.

Snape was pushing the trapdoor upward.

_No--_

James rushed forward. The snarling grew more intense, and he heard Snape give a surprised yell.

At last, he reached Snape. He wrapped both arms around Snape’s waist and threw himself to the tunnel floor, pulling Snape with him.

The trapdoor crashed shut above them, and they heard the frustrated growling and scrabbling as the werewolf tried to reach them.

Snape elbowed his way out of James’ grasp.

“That was a werewolf,” he said, wondering, the light from his wand casting odd shadows over his face. “Of course...it all makes sense…”

James made no response. He was still lying on the tunnel floor, trying to get his breath back.

“But, that means,” said Snape, his face contorting to fury, “you and your _friends_ tried to have me _killed_.”

James shook his head no, still panting.

“But you...you saved me,” said Snape, giving James an odd look. “Why?”

“Never...wanted you...to die,” James gasped.

Snape, confused, stared at James for a moment.

“No…” he said, “No, you--you must have wanted-- You’d get in trouble, if I got killed.”

“Whatever you need...to tell yourself,” James said.

Snape stared at him in confusion, then straightened his robes and stalked back down the tunnel, while James flopped back down and closed his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Sirius saw James return to the Great Hall, but instead of coming back over to sit with him and Peter, James took a seat far down the table with a group of fifth-years. He didn’t look in Sirius’ direction, and Sirius frowned, stabbing furiously at his steak. Peter looked nervously between Sirius and James.

When James got up to leave, still having not looked in Sirius’ direction once, Sirius stood abruptly, knocking the bench back, and stalked after him. Peter dropped his spoon with a clatter and hurried after Sirius.

Others had finished eating by this time, and Sirius shouldered his way through the growing crowd milling around the doors to the Entrance Hall, ignoring the objections of people whose toes he stepped on. Finally reaching the Entrance Hall, he caught sight of James nearing the top of the marble staircase.

“OI!” he yelled. Everyone turned to look at him, and James turned too, staring down at him coldly from the top of the stairs.

“What do you want, Sirius?”

“Where do you get off, ignoring me?” Sirius demanded.

“What did you expect? ‘Great prank Sirius, went exactly as planned! Had to dispose of Snape’s body in the Forbidden Forest, but I’m sure you definitely haven’t ruined all our lives!’”

“He wouldn’t have died! Madam Pompfrey can fix up anything - he’d have been fine! And honestly it’s what he deserved, after what he’s done to you and me all year!”

“What he’s done to you and me? What about what you did to Remus?”

“What I--what do you mean?” Fear pierced him like a spike.

James made a disgusted noise and turned away.

“Hey!” said Sirius, racing up the stairs after him (Peter, finally having pushed his way through the crowd, followed once more, panting). He caught up to James and grabbed his arm. “What do you mean, what I did to Remus?”

James yanked his arm out of Sirius’ grasp. “We’re not talking about this here, idiot!” he hissed. He started in the direction of Gryffindor tower, and Sirius followed, Wormtail bringing up the lead.

“But he’s--I mean, he’s okay, right?” Sirius said.

James didn’t answer.

“James, is Remus okay? Snape didn’t--didn’t hurt him, right?”

James growled in frustration and yanked Sirius through a hidden door behind a tapestry. Peter yelped and followed them. It was mostly dark back here - the light from a few candles flickered over their faces. James waited a moment to make sure no one was passing outside, then he muttered, “As far as I know, Remus is fine. Snape’s fine too, no thanks to you - I pulled him back just as he was poking his head up through the trapdoor.”

“Well, then, no harm done!” said Sirius, relief washing over him. A grin broke out over his face.

“The thing is, Snape saw him, thanks to you. And how many people do you think he’s already told? How long before the whole school knows? You remember how he reacted when we figured it out?”

Sirius nodded wordlessly.

“Imagine how it’ll be when _everyone_ knows.”

Sirius wished he could sink through the floor rather than remain in James’ furious gaze. Shame poured into his belly, eating at his insides. He swallowed. “I didn’t--I didn’t think…”

“Obviously,” said James coldly, and he turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him. Peter hesitated, then hurried after James, leaving Sirius alone in the darkened room.

James sat on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, waiting for Remus to wake up. He usually lay still for a few minutes after transforming back to a human before slowly regaining consciousness (which had been a little unnerving the first full moon they spent together - Peter had been convinced they’d killed him somehow). Eventually, as always, Remus groaned and dragged himself to a sitting position. James tossed him his robes.

“Where’s Sirius? And Peter?” he said, looking around in confusion, pulling on his robes.

James swallowed. “They, er…” He stood, dusting his hands nervously. “They...how are you? Are you hurt at all?”

Remus did a quick check. “No, I’m fine.”

“Good,” said James, not meeting his eyes. “Good. Let’s, er...let’s get you to bed, all right?”

“Okay…” said Remus, looking confused and worried, but he asked no more questions and followed James back to Gryffindor Tower without a word.

When they entered the dorm, Sirius, who’d been sitting on the edge of his bed in his pajamas, stood up, looking nervous. Peter was nowhere to be seen.

“Sirius?” said Remus. “What happened? Where were you?”

Sirius looked at James, and James felt a chill, as though the air between them had turned to ice.

“You didn’t tell him?” said Sirius.

“I thought I’d leave that to you,” James replied.

“Tell me _what?_ ” Remus said, looking from one to the other.

“I…” said Sirius. He trailed off, looking at the ceiling.

“He thought it’d be funny if he told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow,” said James bluntly.

Remus turned slowly from James to Sirius.

“You...what? You told-- You--” He stood frozen in shock, staring at Sirius, his eyes large in his pale face.

Sirius, jaw tense, not meeting Remus’ eyes, gave a small nod.

Before James could react, Remus marched across the room and punched Sirius in the face. Sirius yelped in pain, his hand covering his cheek, but made no move to retaliate.

“ _Why did you do that?_ ” Remus shouted, gripping Sirius’ shirt in both fists. “He’s gonna tell everyone! He’ll get me kicked out! Do you know how _hard_ it’d be for me, even if I finished school, to get a normal job? No one wants to hire werewolves! And you just let that secret out to _hundreds of people! What am I supposed to do now?_ ”

Sirius let Remus rant at him, his face burning red, still not making eye contact. Remus was panting by this point, and he seemed to be losing steam.

“You--you wrecked _everything._ You--” he swayed, and his knees buckled. Sirius caught him as James stepped forward.

“Get off me. Don’t touch me,” Remus muttered, trying to push Sirius away from him, while Sirius tried to keep him from falling over.

James grabbed Remus under the arms and hauled him back from Sirius. Remus was trembling and seemed to be struggling to stay conscious. James felt a fresh surge of anger at Sirius.

“Look, I--” said Sirius.

“I think you should go,” James said, pulling one of Remus’ arms over his shoulders.

“Hey, I live here, too,” Sirius protested, but James glared at him, and after a moment he left without a word, slamming a fist into a bedpost as he went.

“Okay, let’s get you to bed,” he said to Remus, for lack of anything better to say.

“What does it matter?” Remus said dully as James helped him to his bed. “I should just start packing.”

“You don’t know that,” said James. He helped Remus sit down on the edge of his bed and started to take off his shoes for him.

“I do, though,” said Remus. “Why do you think Professor Dumbledore worked so hard to keep it a secret? Parents will say they don’t feel safe with their kids around a dangerous werewolf, and the governors will force him to kick me out.”

James looked up at Remus as he pulled off Remus’ second shoe. Remus didn’t even look sad, just resigned, like he’d always known this would happen. James sat down on the bed next to Remus and pulled him into a tight hug. Remus, his head resting on James’ shoulder, took a shuddering breath.

“I don’t want to go,” he said softly.

“I know. I don’t want you to, either,” he said, wishing, stupidly, that Sirius was there to comfort Remus as well. Sirius always knew how to cheer Remus up with a joke (or something stupid he passed off as a joke).

They sat like that for a minute or two, until Peter came bursting into the room, gasping. James cleared his throat and wiped his eyes.

“What’s going on? Where have you been?” he asked Peter.

“I went to Dumbledore, and he said he wants to see all of us right away.” Peter bent over - he’d clearly run all the way here.

James looked at Remus. “You up for it, Moony?”

Remus heaved a sigh. “Why not?”

James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Snape sat in a row of chairs in front of Professor Dumbledore’s desk. Dumbledore himself sat at the desk, his steepled fingers pressed to his lips. Peter looked nervous, biting his lip and fidgeting. James sat, fists clenched, ready to fight for Remus to stay, sending angry glances over at Sirius every so often. Sirius stared resolutely at the wall in front of him, meeting no one’s eyes. Snape’s eyes darted back and forth - to Sirius, to James, to Remus, to Peter, to Dumbledore, curiosity and resentment in his expression in equal measure. Remus slumped in his chair, exhausted.

“I’ve heard each of your accounts,” said Dumbledore. “First, Mr. Snape, I understand you’ve told no one of this incident.”

James’, Sirius’, Remus’, and Peter’s heads all snapped in Snape’s direction in surprise. 

“Right,” said Snape, flatly. Remus’ breath shuddered in relief. James laughed and ruffled Remus’ hair. Sirius closed his eyes, some of the tension draining out of his posture. Peter grinned.

“In that case, for being out of bounds, twenty points from Slytherin and one night of detention.”

Snape scowled, but said nothing.

“And you understand that you will be expelled if you reveal Mr. Lupin’s situation to anyone?”

Snape crossed his arms and nodded.

“Very well. Report to Professor Flitwick tomorrow night. Next, Mr. Pettigrew.”

Peter looked nervous again.

“For knowing a fellow student was in danger and doing nothing to prevent it, twenty points from Gryffindor and one night of detention. Report to Professor Kettleburn tomorrow night.”

Peter nodded, looked a little relieved.

“Mr. Black,” said Dumbledore, “You knowingly put a fellow student in a situation that could have led to grievous harm or death. For this, one hundred points from Gryffindor, and detention three times a week for the remainder of the term."

“But Sir--” said Sirius.

“Professor--” said Snape.

“He wasn’t hurt at all--”

“I could have been killed, or worse, turned--”

Dumbledore held up a hand and both boys fell silent. “Had harm come to Mr. Snape, as a result of Mr. Black’s actions, Mr. Black would have been expelled. As it is, I will be informing Mr. Black’s parents, and if anything like this happens again, Mr. Black will be expelled.”

James looked over at Sirius, who had gone white at the mention of his parents.

“Sir,” he said, “Sirius isn’t living with his parents anymore.”

Dumbledore’s blue eyes shifted to Sirius. “I wasn’t aware of this,” he said. “In that case, I don’t see a need to inform them. Report to Mr. Filch tomorrow night.”

Sirius sighed in relief.

“Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore continued, “For courage and, perhaps more importantly, punctuality, I award fifty points to Gryffindor. I can also see that Mr. Lupin had no part in this unfortunate incident, and I hope he will get some rest.” He smiled gently at Remus.

Snape spluttered.

“Yes, Mr. Snape?” Dumbledore said politely.

“How can you be sure Potter and Lupin weren’t involved? I bet they planned the whole thing together and Potter only got cold feet at the last minute.”

“Their accounts of the incident line up with each other’s, and, more tellingly, with yours,” said Dumbledore. “So unless you have some evidence that they planned it together…?”

“No, Sir,” said Snape through gritted teeth.

“Perfect,” said Dumbledore. “Dismissed.”


	7. Chapter 7

The next weeks were strained ones between the four Gryffindor boys. Sirius spent as little time as possible in the dormitory, getting up early and coming back to bed late. James steadfastly tried to ignore Sirius’s presence whenever they had to be in the same room, though Remus occasionally noticed him turning with a grin to share some joke with Sirius, then his face going blank as he remembered what Sirius had done. Peter almost hovered with anxiety whenever Sirius was in the room with the rest of them. And Remus, though still angry with Sirius (especially because he hadn’t yet apologized), couldn’t stop himself from thinking,  _ If it hadn’t been for me, the others would still be friends. _ He lay awake nights, the thought circling round and round his mind, the shame of it coursing like poison through his veins.

November third, Sirius’ birthday, dawned clear and cold. Remus had made up his mind to bury the hatchet with Sirius - anything to clear the unbearable tension drawn between them like a taut bowstring, but when he opened the hangings around his bed, Sirius was already gone.

Sirius didn’t appear in Transfiguration that morning. When Professor McGonagall asked where he was, the three of them looked at each other and shrugged. He didn’t show up for Herbology either, and Remus scanned the Gryffindor table when they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

“He’s not there,” he said. “Do you think we should--”

“He can go sulk if he wants,” said James, frowning.

“But it’s his--” started Peter.

“I know it’s his birthday!” said James. He rubbed his forehead, frustrated. “Look, if he doesn’t show up by dinner…” A flicker of worry passed over his face. “If he doesn’t show up by dinner, we’ll get the map out and find him. Okay?”

Remus and Peter nodded.

“Great,” said James, sounding annoyed. “Well, I’m starving. Can we eat lunch now?”

Sirius didn’t show up for afternoon classes, either. As Professor Binns droned on about some goblin war or other, James fidgeted, tapping his fingers against his knee, checking his watch every five seconds.

Surely Sirius was fine. He was confident enough to pull that stunt with Snape, and then pretend like it wasn’t his fault, or it wasn’t a big deal. Just because everything turned out okay (and with no thanks or apology to James, who was the only reason it  _ had  _ turned out okay), he seemed to think there was no way it could have gone otherwise.

But skipping classes...that was a bad sign, for Sirius. Usually he’d skip a few just before breaks, which he’d always said was just to blow off steam, but James had slowly realized he was worried about going home. If he was skipping class now…

James clenched a hand into a fist under his desk. The conversion they’d had over the summer suffused his mind.

_ Are you trying to get yourself killed?  _ James had asked. And Sirius had hesitated.

Remus kept glancing in James’ direction, his brow knit in concern. James wondered how much Remus knew about Sirius’ parents, how much Sirius had told him. Or how much he’d guessed. Remus had become more and more withdrawn since that night. James wondered if he was somehow blaming himself for what had happened, and felt a fresh surge of anger and resentment toward Sirius. How  _ could  _ he? How could he do that to Remus, who was already so twisted up inside, hating himself for what he was, for what he couldn’t help?

And he thought again of Sirius, lying, bleeding, on the couch in his living room, refusing to tell James where he’d gotten his injuries, and trickles of fear started inside his chest.

He was so tense that the bell for the end of class badly startled him, and he jumped, knocking over his inkwell. He swore to himself as the students around him collected their things and filed from the room. He pulled out his wand and siphoned the ink from the pages of his textbook, doing his best to clear the pages, though there were still a few smudges left behind.

A quick look at the Gryffindor table showed no Sirius. James, his heart thumping distractingly, suggested they go straight back to Gryffindor Tower to check if Sirius was back. The others nodded mutely, looking anxious.

Sirius wasn’t in the Common Room, or in their dormitory, so Peter fished the map out of his trunk and they spread it on Peter’s bed to search for Sirius.

It was hard to search for a single person on the map. Given the complexity of the castle and the hundreds of people roaming its halls, finding one moving dot among the many required time and patience. Fortunately, they’d all had some practice at it.

“He’s not in the kitchens,” said Peter.

“I don’t see him anywhere on the grounds,” said James.

They perused the map in silence for another moment.

“Found him,” said Remus abruptly, pointing. “Strange...what’s he doing on top of the Astronomy tower?”

James felt the blood drain from his face.

“James?” said Remus, frightened at his reaction. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to go,” said James, scrambling to his feet and running for the door. He heard Peter and Remus rushing after him.

“James, what is it?” Remus said again, as they thundered down the spiral staircase to the common room.

“I don’t know for sure, but Sirius has been sort of...off recently, even before...you know, and I-- I’m worried he might--”

He couldn’t put his thought into words, but Remus seemed to understand because he said no more as they hurtled across the Common Room, Peter panting in the rear.

James tried to block images of Sirius standing on the ledge of the tower or, worse, falling from it, from his mind as they ran down hallways and up staircases. They reached the foot of the Astronomy Tower, and, gasping for breath, started up the stairs, two at a time.

They reached the trapdoor, and James shoved it open. It swung on its hinge and fell to the stones with a loud crash.

There was a loud yelp above them, and James, poking his head through the trapdoor into the fading light of the afternoon, saw Sirius sitting sprawled on the stones of the tower, a couple empty bottles at his side, clutching one that was half full.

After the initial wash of relief, anger flooded through James again, and he marched over to Sirius and snatched the bottle from his hands.

“Hey, thass mine,” Sirius protested weakly. “House elves gave it to me.”

“Where were you?” James demanded. “You weren’t in any classes or at meals, and I thought--” he swallowed.

“Iss my birthday, right?  _ Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me... _ “ he trailed off and chuckled. “I was here. Well, kitchen first. Then here.”

“You’ve been drinking all day?” James asked. He sniffed the bottle he’d taken from Sirius and winced - it was cheap firewhiskey.

“Since breakfast, yeah,” said Sirius. His grin dropped and he looked away.

“What happened at breakfast?” asked Remus.

Sirius closed his eyes, and for a moment James thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he fumbled in the pocket of his robes, pulled out a crumpled letter, and passed it to James. Remus and Peter peered over James’ shoulders to read it.

_ Dear son, _

_ Congratulations on coming of age. Given your disrespect for this family and the pain you’ve caused your father and myself, you will be pleased to know you’ve been removed from the family tree and will not be welcomed back to our home under any circumstances. I hope you can appreciate the choices you’ve made, and that those blood traitor or Mudblood friends of yours are willing to support you. Do not contact us. _

_ Regards, _

_ Walburga Black _

“Lays it on with a trowel, doesn’t she?” said Sirius, when he saw they’d finished reading. His words were light, but he’d wrapped his arms around himself and could barely look at the three of them.

“That’s...one way to wish someone a happy birthday,” said Remus.

Sirius gave a choked laugh.

Remus sat down next to Sirius, leaning his head against the parapet. “I’m tired of all this. None of it would have happened if it weren’t for me, so let’s just forget about it.”

“Remus--” said James, frowning, but at Remus’ words, Sirius had wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Don’t say that.  _ Don’t.  _ I’m so sorry, Remus.” His voice cracked and he buried his face in Remus’ shoulder. Remus, looking a little startled, patted his back awkwardly.

“Idiot,” said James, sitting down on Sirius’ other side. “You realize how badly you fucked up?”

“Yes,” said Sirius in a muffled voice.

“And you won’t do it again?”

“‘Course not. No.”

“Well then, that’s all right.” James ruffled Sirius’ hair affectionately. “Sorry about your mum.”

Sirius took a shuddering breath and wiped his face.

“‘S all right. Don’t know what I expected.”

Peter cleared his throat. “I, er, got this for you, Sirius,” he said, producing a bottle of Rosmerta’s mulled mead from a pocket in his robes. “I wasn’t sure when to give it to you, but I convinced her to sell it to me, since it was for you. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks, Wormtail,” said Sirius, reaching for the bottle, but James took it instead.

“I think we’ll save this for tomorrow,” he said. He hesitated, then pulled out a box. “This is for you, too.”

Sirius took it and opened it. It was full of Sirius’ favorite Honeydukes sweets.

“My parents are sending you something, too, but it’ll probably be a few days late - they’re not great at being on time for presents.”

Sirius swallowed. “Thanks, mate,” he said.

“Well,” said Remus, pulling out a box of his own, “I suppose this is the time to give you this.”

They all laughed in disbelief as Sirius opened Remus’ gift. It was a set of leather fingerless gloves.

“Sweet,” said Sirius, pulling them on clumsily.

“I knew you’d like them,” said Remus. “I thought, ‘These are stupid enough that Sirius would love them.’”

Sirius punched him playfully, and Remus laughed.


End file.
